Refuse container lid opening device having drop-down tongue

ABSTRACT

A refuse container lid opening device includes a lid hingedly attached to a container body for covering the container body&#39;s top opening. The lid is free of grabbable handles or protuberances but an elongated tongue descending from its underside is received in a slot in the top rim of the container body and is accessible outward of the container body. Upward movement of the tongue when the lid is closed raises the lid above the top rim of the container body to form a manually accessible gap in which a hand can be inserted to fully open the lid.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/058,453 filed Jul. 29, 2020, and it claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 63/058,454, filed Jul. 29, 2020.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a lidded waste container that is resistant toopening by wild animals such as raccoons, foxes, opossums and the like.

Description of Related Art

Many attempts have been devised to address the common problem of wildanimals gaining access to refuse containers stored outside. Raccoons areespecially adept at learning how to open refuse container by cleverlymaking use of their dexterous paws. Prior are solutions vary from simplecatches and snaps, to strapping down the container's lid using bunglecords, to sophisticated locking mechanisms. Many of these attemptsassume that the container has one or more surfaces or edges that can besnagged or gripped by the paws of an animal and hope to lock thecontainer dosed despite a creature's ability to find a “paw” hold withwhich to pry the container open.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A container according to the invention comprises an open-toppedcontainer body and a lid pivotally attached to the rear side of thebody. The lid has an opening mechanism provided by an elongated tonguethat projects downwardly from the front underside of the lid and, whenthe lid is closed, extends through a slot on the front wall of the body.

In some embodiments, the lid has a smooth flat top and no handles orgrips other than the tongue. In other embodiments, when the lid isclosed, its outer edges are recessed below and fully concealed by arailing surrounding the top opening of the body. The tongue thusprovides the only opening mechanism for the lid.

Opening the lid requires two hands, one hand to push up on the tongue tolift the front of the lid until a gap is formed between the lid and thebody, and a second hand to be inserted into the gap where it can thenlift the lid to a fully opened position. Wild animals are unable to usetwo hands to open the lid in this manner.

The invention thus provides a lidded waste container that is resistantto opening by wild animals without requiring additional safeguards betaken to secure the container such as by using a bungle cord, latchassembly or locking mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lidded waste container according tothe invention showing the lid in a partially opened position.

FIG. 2 is perspective view thereof showing the lid being moved towardsthe closed position.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view thereof shown with the lid closed.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view thereof.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view thereof showing thelid being moved from a closed position to an open position.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view of a second embodimentof a waste container according to the invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

An refuse container lid opening device having a drop-down tongueaccording to the invention, indicated generally at 100 in FIG. 1,comprises an open-topped container body 110 and a lid 120 that ispivotally attached to the rear side of the body by a hinge 130. The lid120 has a smooth flat top surface 122 and no handles or grips with whichto open it. An elongated tongue 125 projects downwardly from a frontportion of the underside of the lid. The tongue 125 may be integrallymolded with the lid 120 or may otherwise be securely fastened to thelid. The tongue 125 thus provides the only opening mechanism for the lid120. The waste container 100 may optionally include wheels 115.

When the lid 120 is closed, as shown in FIG. 2, the tongue 125 extendsthrough a slot 142 on the front of the body 110. In the illustratedembodiment, the slot 142 is provided on a forwardly projecting,horizontal shelf 145 that extends horizontally from the front wall 112of the container body 110. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the lid 120 isclosed, the tongue 125 extends through the slot 142 and substantiallybelow the shelf 145 so as not to be removable from the slot 142 withoutbeing pushed upward. This substantial downward extension of the tongue125 also prevents the tongue from falling out of the slot 142 if thecontainer 100 is tipped over and keeps the tongue fully visible andaccessible when the lid 120 is closed.

Two hands are required to operate the tongue 125 and open the lid 120 ofthe container 100. As shown in FIG. 5, one hand is used to push up onthe tongue 125 to lift the lid 120 until a gap G is formed between thelid 120 and the body 110. A second hand is then inserted into the gap Gwhere it can be used to lift the lid 120 back to the fully openedposition seen in FIG. 1. Wild animals are unable to use two hands toopen the lid.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, a second embodiment of a waste container 100 accordingto the invention further includes a railing 140 that is integrallymolded with and surrounds the top opening of the body 110. The railing140 extends vertically from the shelf 145 such that, when the lid 120 isclosed, the flat top surface 122 of the lid 120 sits flush with the topedge 124 of the railing 140. In this manner, when the lid is closed, itsouter edges are recessed below the railing 140, preventing wild animalsfrom inserting their fingers or claws under the lid 120 to open thecontainer 100 and ensuring that the tongue 125 is the only viableopening mechanism for the lid 120.

The present invention thus provides a refuse container that is resistantto being opened by wild animals thereby avoiding the need to secure thelid with bungie cords, latch assemblies or other locking mechanisms,that is otherwise easy to open by human users, and that will still fallopen when overturned for trash collection. The invention advantageouslyhides edges or surfaces which can easily be gripped by an animal andcapitalizes on the need for two hands to open the container.

Certain embodiments of an animal resistant waste container have thusbeen described and illustrated herein in detail. These embodiments aremerely exemplary implementations of the invention and are not intendedto limit the scope of the invention to their particular details.Alternative embodiments of the invention not expressly disclosed hereinwill be evident to persons of ordinary skill in the art. For example,the invention can be embodied in other types of storage containers thatneed to be animal resistant, such as the outdoor food storage lockerscommonly found at camping grounds.

1. A refuse container lid opening device having a drop-down tonguecomprising: a container body having top rim defining a top opening tothe inside of the container, the top rim having a slot, a lid hingedlyattached to the top rim of the container body for covering the topopening, the lid having an underside, an elongated tongue descendingfrom the underside of the lid movable retained in the slot, a closedconfiguration in which the lid rests on the top rim of the container,the tongue is received in the slot, and the lid is upwardly movable bymanipulating the tongue, and a partly open configuration in which thetongue remains received in the slot and the lid is raised above the toprim of the top opening thereby creating a manually accessible gapbetween the container body and the lid that provides access to theinside of the container.
 2. The refuse container lid opening devicehaving a drop-down tongue of claim 1 further comprising: the lidincludes an outer surface, the top rim has an outer face, and in theclosed configuration the outer surface of the lid is in planar alignmentwith the outer face of the top rim of the container body.
 3. The refusecontainer lid opening device having a drop-down tongue of claim furthercomprising: the lid having a smooth top surface free of grabbablehandles or protuberances.
 4. The refuse container lid opening devicehaving a drop-down tongue of claim further comprising: the lid having anouter perimeter having a continuous circumferential vertical surface,and the top rim having a continuous circumferential vertical outer face,in said closed configuration, the vertical surface of the lid in planaralignment with the vertical outer face of the top rim of the container.5. The refuse container lid opening device having a drop-down tongue ofclaim further comprising: the top rim having a bottom surface, in theclosed configuration the tongue extending below the bottom surface ofthe top rim and manually accessible outward of the container body suchthat lifting the tongue moves the lid up from the top rim.
 6. A refusecontainer lid opening device having a drop-down tongue comprising: acontainer body having top rim defining a top opening to the container,the top rim having a slot, a bottom surface, and an upwardly extendingcircumferential railing, the railing having a circumferential top edge,a lid hingedly attached to the container body for covering the topopening, the lid having a top surface including a perimeter edge, anelongated tongue descending from the underside of the lid, and a closedconfiguration in which the lid rests on the top rim of the container,the perimeter edge of the lid is flush with or recessed below the topedge of the railing and the tongue is received in the slot, the tongueextending below the bottom surface of the top rim and being manuallyaccessible outside of the container body, such that upward movement ofthe tongue moves the lid up and away from the top rim.
 7. The refusecontainer lid opening device having a drop-down tongue of claim 6further comprising: the railing having an inner edge, and the outerperimeter of the lid having a vertical outer face, in the dosedconfiguration the outer face of the perimeter of the lid immediatelyadjacent to the inner edge of the railing.
 8. The refuse container lidopening device having a drop-down tongue of claim 6 further comprising:a partly open configuration in which the tongue remains received in theslot and the lid is raised above the top rim of the top opening therebyforming a manually accessible gap between the container body and the lidthat provides access to the inside of the container.
 9. The refusecontainer lid opening device having a drop-down tongue of claim 6further comprising: the lid having a smooth top surface free ofgrabbable handles or protuberances.
 10. A refuse container lid openingdevice having a drop-down tongue comprising: a container body having toprim defining a top opening to the container, the top rim having a slot,and a bottom surface, a lid hingedly attached to the top rim of thecontainer body for covering the top opening, the lid having top surfaceand an underside, the top surface free of grabbable handles orprotuberances and having a lid perimeter edge, an elongated tonguedescending from the underside of the lid, a closed configuration inwhich the lid rests on the top rim of the container, the lid perimeteredge is disposed immediately adjacent to the inner face of the railingand at or below the top edge of the railing, and the tongue is receivedin the slot and extends below the bottom surface of the top rim and ismanually accessible outward of the container body such that upwardmovement of the tongue moves the lid up from the top rim, and a partlyopen configuration in which the tongue remains received in the slot andthe lid is raised above the top rim of the top opening thereby creatinga manually accessible gap between the container body and the lid thatprovides access to the inside of the container.